S.No.	Topic	Notes Link
1.	ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND FISHERIES	Read Now
2.	Livestock in India	Read Now
3.	Role of Animal Husbandry / livestock	Read Now
4.	livestock rearing – key to poverty reduction strategies	Read Now
5.	Constraints of Livestock Development	Read Now
6.	Contribution of livestock to Man	Read Now
7.	General Principles of Animal Management	Read Now
8.	Major Challenges	Read Now
9.	Aims and objectives of the National Livestock Policy	Read Now
10.	Fisheries Resources	Read Now
11.	Problems of Inland Fishery	Read Now
12.	Problems of Marine Fishery	Read Now

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND FISHERIES

Breeds of Cattle

Milch Breeds

The cows of these breeds are high milk yields and the male animals are slow or poor work animals. The examples of indian Milch breeds are Shahiwal, Red Sindhi, Gir and Deoni the Milk Production of milk breeds is on the average more than 16 kg per lactation

Dual purpose Breeds

The cows in these breeds are average milk yielder and male animals are very useful for work. Their milk production per lactation is 5kg to 15kg. The example of this group is Ongole, Hariana, Kankrej, Tharparker, Krishna valley, Rathi and Goalo Mewathi.

Draught Breeds

The Male animals are good for work and Cows are poor milk yielder. Their milk Yield as an average is less than 5 kg per lactation. They are usually white in color. A pair of bullocks can haul 1000 kg. Net with an iron typed cart on a good road at walking speed of 5 to 7 km per hour and cover a distance of 30 – 40 km per day. Twice as much weight can be pulled on pneumatic rubber tube carts. The example of this group Kangayam, Umblacherry, Amritmahal, Hallikar.

Name of the Breed	Habitat	Remarks
Hallikar	Karnataka	Draught breed
Kangayam	Tamil Nadu	Draught breed
Red Shindhi	Pakistan all parts of India	Dairy breed
Tharparkar	Pakistan (sind)	Dairy  breed
Vechur	Kerala	Dairy  breed

Cross Breeding

It is mating of animals of different breeds. Cross breeding is followed for breeding animals for milk production and meat production . In India zebu breeds of cows and nondescript cows are crossed with exotic breeds like holstein Friesian, Brown Swiss and Jersey bulls or their semen, to enhance the milk production potential of the Progeny.

Cross – breed cattle in India

Name of the Breed	Native breed	Remarks
Brown Swiss	Switzerland	Dairy breed
Holstein Friesian	Holland	Dairy breed
Jersey	British Isles	Dairy breed

Buffalo breeds

Name of the Breed	Habitat	Remark
Jafarabadi	Gujarat	Dairy breed
Murrah	Haryana , UP	Dairy Breed
Surti	Gujarat	Dairy breed

Goats breeds

Name of the Breed	Habitat
Pashmina	Ladakh , Lahaul and spiti  valleys
Chegu	Kashmir
Jamnunapari	Uttar Pradesh
Berari	Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Surti	Maharashtra
Tellicherry	Kerala
Angora	Exotic Breeds

Livestock in India

The animal production system in India is predominantly part of a mixed crop – livestock farming system vital for the security and survival of large numbers of poor people. In such systems , livestock generate income, provide employment, draught power and manure. This production system assumes special significance in the present context of sustained economic growth, rising income, increasing urbanization , changes in taste and preference that have lead to dietary changes reflecting the importance of milk , meat, egg and fish.

• India has vast resource of livestock and poultry, which play a vital role in improving the socio – economic conditions of the rural masses.
• There is no other country in the world having varied domestic animal biodiversity like India. India has the largest livestock populations in the world.
• It has 57 percent of  the world’s buffalo population and 16 percent of the cattle population.
• It ranks first in respect of cattle and buffalo population , third in sheep and second in goat population in the world.
• The livestock population shows high degree of diversity in its composition. Out of total livestock in the country, 38.2 percent are cattle, 20.2 percent are buffaloes, 12.7 percent are sheep, 25.6 percent are goats and only 2.8 percent are pigs. All other animals are less than 0.50 percent of the total livestock the country has 97.92 million buffalo population.
• As per the figures of 2003 livestock census India has 185.18 million cattle out of which 24.68 million were crossbreed .
• The states of Tamil Nadu , Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh , Karnataka and punjab account for about 60 percent of the crossbreed cattle population

Role of Animal Husbandry / livestock

Animal husbandry plays an important role in augmenting rural income, health and employment as follows.

•  Provides food like milk, meat and other value added products, thus preventing poverty and helping to have self- sufficiency in food security.
•  Provides valuable organic manure for agriculture, thus improving soil fertility and productivity.
• Provides draught animal power for different agricultural operation and also for transportation , thus helping to conserve fossil fuel.
•  Provides a platform for ensuring sustainability (biological and economic) , thus bringing about  a change in the social status (society) .
•  Provides skin and hides for leather products, thus helping to make additional income and earn foreign exchange.
•  Provides other byproducts like hoof and horns, thus promoting rural handicraft industries.
• Provides wool and other natural fibres of importance, thus helping to improve income and promote industrial growth.
•  Provides blood as a by Product, thus helping to produce haematinics and other pharmacological products
•  Provides gainful rural employment for many people, thus helping to have full time self employment.
•  Provides a means of storing wealth and also a way to meet social obligations, thus helping to have security and overcome difficult times.
•   Provides a means of controlling weeds by grazing , thus helping to keep the premises clean
• Overall, Animal husbandry can be considered as a major instrument for effecting a  desirable change in the society.

livestock rearing – key to poverty reduction strategies

Livestock rearing is a key livelihood and risk mitigation strategy for small and marginal farmers, particularly across the rain – fed regions of India. The livestock sectors of agriculture and if this trend continues then the sector will be the engine of growth for Indian agriculture that many have predicted.
There are two other important aspects: firstly, livestock rearing at the household level is largely a women – led activity, and therefore income from livestock rearing and decisions related to management of livestock within the household are primarily take by women. Interventions in India have demonstrated that support for livestock rearing has contributed significantly to the empowerment of women and an increasing role in decision making at both the household and village level. Secondly, livestock rearing , particularly in the rain – fed regions of the country, is also emerging as a key risk mitigation strategy for the poorest.
They face increasingly uncertain and erratic weather conditions which negatively impact crop productivity and wage labour in the agriculture sector.

Constraints of Livestock Development

In spite of the ambitions programmes launched by the Government of India and State Government, they were not able to deliver the expected results. There was no significant breakthrough in improving the productivity both in the milch and meat sectors and in reaching the poor for their livelihood.
The reasons for the slow progress were :

1. Non – availability of superior quality breeding bulls.
2. Poor quality of semen produced by many of the laboratories.
3. Inadequate skills of paravets resulting in poor conception and infertility.
4. Inadequate supports for paravets for supply of liquid nitrogen , frozen , semen, health care and technical guidance.
5. Shortage of fodder resources.
6. Absence of field oriented conservation strategy for indigenous breeds.
7. Lack of coordination among various agencies engaged in livestock husbandry.

Contribution of livestock to Man

Food	Milk, Meat , Eggs
Fiber	Wool, Hair
Skin	Hide, pelt
Traction	Power for agricultural , irrigation , transportation
Wastes	Fertilizer , Fuel , Capital, gas , Animal feed
Storage	Storage of food , Capital , Wealth
Weed Control	Biological control of weeds / Bushes
Cultural	Security , Self – esteem, Status symbol
Sports / recreation	Competition , Exhibition, companion
By – Products	Bone meal, Blood Meal
Experimentation	Testing of drugs, Vaccines, Manufacture of sera , toxoid
Security	Use of dogs in Police, Guarding

General Principles of Animal Management

• The basic requirements for the welfare of livestock are
• Provision of readily accessible fresh water.
• Nutritionally adequate feed as required.
• Provision of adequate temperature and ventilation.
• Adequate freedom for movement and to stretch their body.
• sufficient light for satisfactory inspection and also for feeding.
• Rapid diagnosis and treatment of injuries and disease.
• Emergency provision in the event of breakdown of essential mechanical equipment.
• Flooring which neither harms nor cause undue stress to the animal.
• Domestication and rearing of animals for production causes considerable strain on the body of the animals. It is therefore essential that these animals should be looked after well.

Major Challenges

The livestock sector in India faces the following major challenges which need to be addressed enabling the sector to grow according to its potential : -

 Shortage of Feed and Fodder –

While the livestock population is increasing , the gap between the requirement and availability of feed and fodder in increasing primarily due to decreasing area under fodder cultivation and reduced availability of crop residues as fodder
Low Productivity :  Inadequate availability of feed and fodder, insufficient coverage through artificial , insufficient  coverage through artificial insemination, low conception rates, non- availability of quality males for breeding, poor management practices, high mortality and morbidity losses due to diseases, inadequate marketing infrastructure and unorganized marketing are the other major concerns.
Livestock Health : A large number of infectious and metabolic diseases prevalent in India livestock have serious implication for animal productivity, export potential and Safety / quality of livestock products, and many of these diseases have zoonotic implications. The current efforts of prevention and control of livestock diseases needs to be strengthened. There is a shortage of veterinary and paraveterinary manpower and facilities including mechanisms for diagnosis , treatment, tracking and prevention of the disease. Adequate infrastructure for ensuring bio – security, proper quarantine systems and services to prevent the ingress of diseases across the states and national borders is not available.
Livestock and Environment : Climate change and global warming may have serious implications to the livestock sector. These may be manifested in the form of heat stress, loss of animals habitat especially in coastal areas, scarcity of quality feed and fodder, and changes in epidemiological pattern of vector borne diseases, etc., ultimately leading to reduction in production and therefore, economic losses. Mitigating the impact of climate change, calls for critical appraisal of the situation on continuous basis and advance planning.
Knowledge gap : Most of the livestock producers being small and marginal farmers, their capacity to mobilize resources required to absorb the latest technologies developed by research institutions are limited. Absence of an effective extension machinery for this purpose compounds the problem. Lack of access to institutional finance is a major constraint in attracting investment required for improving productivity by adopting latest technology.
Inadequate Infrastructure for Marketing , Processing and Value Addition : The livestock sector is handicapped due to inadequate marketing and processing infrastructure as a result of which the primary producers do not get remunerative prices most of the time. Although various initiatives for dairy development have resulted in vibrant dairy cooperatives in many states, but still large number of dairy farmers are not covered by cooperatives. The dairy cooperatives handle only about 8% of milk production . Still major share of marketable surplus of milk and other livestock products are not handled by organized processing  Industry , resulting in reduced price realization by farmers and post production losses and wastages.

Aims and objectives of the National Livestock Policy

The National Livestock Policy ( referred as policy hereafter ), aims at increasing livestock Productivity and production in a sustainable manner, while protecting the environment, preserving animal bio – diversity, ensuring bio security and farmers’ livelihood. With this goal ,the main objective of this policy are as under:
To support the existing low input production systems for improving productivity and income so as to improve socio – economic status of a vast majority of our livestock producers, most of which are women and small farmers .
To support research and development initiatives on issues pertaining to livestock sector for improving production and productivity, bio – security and profitability.
To encourage establishment and growth of self – supporting financially viable, medium and large commercial livestock production units capable of adopting latest technology including facility for processing and value addition.
To improve the productivity of livestock and poultry by promoting and disseminating the technologies developed by the research system.
To promote conservation of animal bio – diversity; conservation and genetic improvement of important indigenous breeds of livestock and poultry in the country.
To increase availability of feed and fodder resource to meet the requirement of livestock to attain optimal productivity.
To strengthen overall animal health cover through prevention, control and eradication of various disease Condition and encourage / enable the dairy cooperatives to extend veterinary services to farmers.
To focus on production of quality livestock products as per the international standards for food safety.
To encourage value addition of livestock products like milk and products, eggs, wool and meat & products etc.
To expand capacity of milk handled by organized dairy sector including cooperatives.
To ensure transmission and application of improved technology and management practices to the doorstep of the farmers and the entrepreneurs.
To create  an enabling environment to attract investment for improving infrastructure support, livestock  production, processing , value addition and marketing in the sector .

Fisheries Resources

Broadly fishery Resource in India is of two types
1. Inland Fishery : The principal rivers and their tributaries, canals, lakes, ponds comprise the inland fisheries.
2. Marine Fishery : The marine resources comprise of two wide arms of the India Ocean and a large number of gulf and bays along the coast.
In view of the nutritive value of fish and the employment potential Govt. has taken many steps for development of marine and inland fishery resources in our country. The important decisions in this regard were as under .

• For improvement of marine fisheries the programme of   mechanization of fishing crafts is being followed vigorously.
• Govt. of India is providing subsidy up to 33% of the cost of vessels.
• Fishing harbours capable of handling small and medium size fishing vessels have been developed at the minor ports.
• An integrated fisheries project has been in operation in Cochin. The major activities of this project include Experimental fishing Production & marketing of diversified fish products
• Setting up a modern aluminium canning plant and Training of personnel for fisheries industry.
• During 5th plan the central Govt. sponsored “Fish Farmers Development Agencies (FFDA’s) to popularize fish farming in tanks and ponds.
• In 7th five year plan “Fisheries Industrial Estates” by grouping together a few selected coastal villages have been set up for the first time.
• These FI estates have facilities of nets, boats, supply of diesel and spare parts of engines, processing, preservation and marketing.

Problems of Inland Fishery

Though there has been remarkable improvement in fishery resources in general and inland fishery resource in particular , there are some disturbing trends in respect of Inland fishery as well. The important disturbances are as under.

1. Danger to revering fisheries because of growing river pollution, Discharge to untreated effluents from the industrial units and urban silage destroy the fish.
2.  Construction of dams, reservoirs prevents the free migration of fish to their usual breeding and feeding grounds and thus adversely affects the stock of fish in rivers.
3.  Due to above mentioned reason many fish men dependent on river and lake for their livelihood hove To leave their occupation.
4. Inland fishery not treated at par with Agriculture in the context to taxes, electricity tariff etc. there is absence of inland fishery policy at national level .
5.  Non – coverage of fish farming under insurance.
6.  No clear policy for relief to fisher farmers for natural calamity ( some states like Madhya Pradesh have provided drought relief to fisher communities).
7.  Inadequate database available on the status of production, consumption and marketing of fish in inland sector.
8. Inadequate initiatives for infrastructure development for product diversification and market development .
9. Lack of adequate incentives for promotion of export oriented fishery enterprises.
10.  Less number of facilitating organisations to promote inland fishery enterprise.
11.  only a fraction of water area such as rivers, canals, and tanks has been unutilised.
12.  Poor extension services to the fisher commnunities for promotion of fish seed and feed production, fish farming and fish based enterprises.
13. Fishery though falls under the Agriculture less number of provisions are made for the sub sector. Such as energy used for the purpose Is not subsidized in diesel and electricity.
14. Indulgence of middlemen in the process of leasing and taking the water bodies on lease.

The Way Forward

• Government of India have to come out with a “National Inland Fisheries Policy” to provide support and strengthen inland fisheries sector and also suggest the states to state specific policies for Inland fisheries.
•  convergence with MGNREGA project for fisheries focused on tank development (creating dead storage, bund strengthening repairs etc.)
•  Establish “Fisheries Resource Centres” (FRCs) in Rainfed areas to provide technical support in the Inland fisheries sector.
•  Budget allocation for strengthening of existing institutions of fisher folk from the state and central budgets 
•  Facilitate National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) to work with NGOs and other civil society organizations to strengthen Inland fisheries sector
•  Make necessary changes in the existing policies to make women as members in the existing cooperatives & new bodies
•  Make necessary budget allocation to access quality inputs to the communities like fingerlings, feed etc.
•   Make necessary budget allocation to improve basic infrastructure – such as landing centres’, Ice plants, market place, Vehicles for transport etc.

Problems of Marine Fishery

•   Shortage of quality and healthy fish seeds and other critical inputs.
•  Lack of resource – specific fishing vessels and reliable resource and updated data.
•  Inadequate extension staff for fisheries and training for fishers and fisheries personnel .
•  Absence of standardization  and branding of fish products.

The Way Forward

The following measures will help to further strengthen the fisheries sector:

•  Schemes of integrated approach for enhancing fish production and productivity with forward and backward linkages right from production chain and input requirements like quality fish seeds and fish feeds and creation of required infrastructure for harvesting, hygienic handling, value addition and marketing of fish .
•  Existing Fish Farmers Development Authority (FFDAs) would be revamped and cooperative sectors, SHGs and youths would be actively involved in intensive aquaculture activities.
•  large scale adoption of culture – based capture fisheries and cage culture in reservoirs and larger water bodies are to be taken up.
•  Sustainable exploitation of marine fishery resources especially deep sea resources and enhancement of marine fish production through sea farming, mariculture, resource replenishment programme like setting up of artificial reefs.